


The Pendulous Fall

by mabel_but_slytherin



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Dark Offshoot Tagging Chapter 7 of Reincarnation Blues, F/M, Strong Allusions to Self-Harm, Strong Allusions to Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 13:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11105550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mabel_but_slytherin/pseuds/mabel_but_slytherin
Summary: Mira comes home to discover that Ian's been taken by the Arcane Division and all she can do is summon Alcor as her world shatters. But with every answer she once dreamed to know making a happy ending seem less and less likely, Mira has to question what it's worth to have one's own soul -and their fate- back in their own hands.Tag following Chapter 7 of marypsue's wonderful Reincarnation Blues, written when I vastly overestimated the amount of blues needed to justify the title. A drabble prompted by the Kamelot song of the same name.





	The Pendulous Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MaryPSue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryPSue/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Reincarnation Blues](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3621903) by [MaryPSue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryPSue/pseuds/MaryPSue). 
  * Inspired by [Reincarnation Blues](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3621903) by [MaryPSue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryPSue/pseuds/MaryPSue). 



> Just to make it clear: I wrote this fic about two years ago now while Mary was still writing Reincarnation Blues (just after Chapter 7 came out) but never posted it because I publishing fanfic of fanfic here felt weird. Still, even years later I find myself happily pleased with this fic, and still reread it from time to time when trying to break writer's block on later TAU works, so I figure I might as well post it here where it's more easily accessible (and hopefully also so mary will get that happy reminder of fic for her fic :D ).
> 
> But seriously I have to thank this fic for pretty much all of my other TAU works (which I'm still trying to work on... just honestly they'll probably take forever to write in prose due to writer's block and other fics but I have full outlines for each). Namely because Already Damned *huge spoilers ahead* literally spawned because of Mira not going where I expected her to here, so I dreamed up a Mizar (Maka) as a character exploration of what might be required for Mabel's soul to fully commit to the path this fic entertains. A lot of revision to that plot has gone on since then, but her place and relationship with Alcor still stands (in my mind at least) as a direct deconstruction of a lot of TAU tropes regarding the two. You can probably make some of that out even in the first 3 chapters there, especially in Alcor's possessiveness, which is a pretty direct follows up from this fic. Then Buoyancy Floats popped into my head as a Gravity Falls parody prequel literally formed by a one-line joke about the lesbian grandmothers of a character who hasn't appeared in AD yet... and well the rest is history!
> 
> Sorry for rambling but wanted to give this some context as the fic itself will remain completely unedited from 2015 (and posting a tag to a fic two years after the original's finished is probably a bit weird). Still, I hope people who are either new to this fic or have read it before both enjoy!

“Alcor! I don’t care what it takes, or whatever history you’ve had- have with him, you have to save him!”

Alcor found himself flinching back from the emotions in Mira’s gaze. He hadn’t seen her this distraught, even during their fight just a few nights ago. The last time he had seen so much pain reflecting off of Mizar’s gaze was when he first stumbled in on Mabel grieving immediately after the Transcendence, and he would do anything to keep her from going through that agai-

No. Mizar’s soul may be the same, but Mira was her own person. One who was worth protecting and loving in her own right. But this time…

“ _I̟͕͚ **͍͈͇̯̳͎c͖̮̼̩̠̜̼a̤͎̱n̠̩̠'͖̳͖t̻̞̗̞̘ͅ.͍̙̖̩̩̣̦**_ “

The apartment felt too large for just the both of them, despite its modest size. It felt too perfect, the mess from the small scuffle that must have occurred here mere hours before when Ian was taken away not even reaching the living room from the kitchenette. The only things remotely abnormal were the worrisome bloodstain on the floor from the too-large cut Mira had made in her haste while summoning Alcor and the too crisp government letterhead clenched in the woman’s shaking fist.

“You can’t or you just won’t?” Her gaze drops to the paper crumpled in her grip as her hot pink manicured nails pierce right through it, but quickly darts back up to stare at the demon before her. If Alcor hadn’t been by Mira’s side for her whole life and tied to her soul even longer he would’ve sworn from that glare alone that she was the all-powerful soul reader in the room.

“ _ **It’s the Arcane division and he’s-**_ ” there’s no point in hiding or avoiding it now, no matter how much it made his insides roil to say the name. Spilled secrets were worthless, after all, “ _ **he’s Ḇ̧͈ͬ̅͑i̝̭̔l̇̆̒l̺ͤ̑̓ͫ̅ͫ. There will be levels of warding above anything that you’ve ever seen in your mortal lifetime, regardless of your role as Mizar.**_ ”

The pieces of the puzzle coming together before Mira’s eyes were hollow pings in her already empty chest. While she once would’ve given almost anything (not literally enough to convince overprotective Alcor, luckily) to know more about how her friend/brother ticked, and who the Bill he always feared acting like was, suddenly she didn’t care about any of that compared to Ian. o _h G-_ no, she still has to be careful about accidentally invoking something or making any oaths.

It was Ian who was in danger, not Alcor and the secrets he couldn’t be bothered to share with her despite whatever their relationship was, and her mind wasn’t going to focus on anything other than the knowledge that could help her get him back.

“We both know that doesn’t matter. You’re _Alcor_ , and no warding can hold you or stop you if you’re really trying. I know you can get him back, I know you’d do it in a heartbeat if it was me or your precious _Mabel,_ so why don’t you just go do it?!”

“ ** _It matters in terms of the price. An̸̷d͝ t͠͞h̡̛̕i̸̶͜s͟ w̨̕҉ơu̷̢͘l̴d̕ c̷̡̕ơs̵̢t̴͢ ̴̵m̢o̶͢r̛͞e͝҉ t͝ha̧͘͡n̶ ͟yo͝u̢͞ ̨҉c̶̛o̶̵u̶̢l͢ḑ͜ ̪͔ e̥̅̃v̝ͯ͒ͨe̗͇̮̣ͭ͌ͨͫͭ͒̚r̥̦͍͙̫̠ ͚pa͂͂ͫ̐ỷ̰͉ͤ͌̂.̘̦͔̦̦̮̽ͨ”_**

“If it were me you wouldn’t make anyone pay.”

**_“That’s different. You b̕e̢̨͠l̕ǫ͜n̷͢g̴͜͜ ̸̡t̶̡̨o ̴̧͞m̷͝e̸ . And Alcor protects what is his.”_ **

Mira shook as she pushed herself to her feet, pushing herself forward towards the demon who had been a comfort her entire life, though now he seemed more insufferable whenever she needed him. “No. You don’t get to keep pulling that card on me. You know I can’t stand it when you do that and I certainly won’t let you use that as some excuse for just leaving Ian there to die or who knows whatever else they’ll do to him!” 

She was before him now, shoving her finger accusingly into his chest and not even flinching when it passed intangibly through his flickering being. “You always told me that this soul thing was like family. That the whole reason you took Mizar’s soul was to watch over me, _her._ Unless that was just another one of your lying demon trickery. If you want to be a part of my life- a part of my family, then you have to realize that Ian is a part of that family too!” Mira was panting, but the woman was not going to stop her rant enough to look at the pure horror that spread across Alcor’s face at her words. 

Feeling the anger retreat back into the hole in her heart, Mira turned around, grabbing the enchanted and barbed wire bat and moving towards her lovingly painted converse sneakers- bright red, to better hide the blood in a hope they’d last. “And if you’re not going to do what you it takes to save family… then I will. Alone, if I have to.”

**_“Y̢ͅo͔̬̘̪ͅu̥̼̘̮̦̼ͬ̏͡ ͔̩͔̖̬͚̝ͬ̾ͦ̅͒͡w̪͔̼̋̽̅ͭ͟ͅő̱̗̰n̝̪̫̘̖̤͕̋ͧ'͍ͬͮ͞t͕̰̲̭̼̠̜͂̓.“_ **

“’I won’t’ as in you’ll try to convince me otherwise but watch like a normal human overprotective brother? Or ‘I won’t’ as in you’ll use your ownership of my soul to stop me?” She turned to send him another determined glare over her shoulder, as if she wasn’t just daring the most powerful demon in existence to use his total power over her against her. “Because Ian’s in trouble and I can assure you I’m going either way.”

**_“You can’t go if I stop you.”_** And Mira could feel- more terrifying than ever before now that they were _real_ , not just figures of her childhood nightmares- the strings pulling themselves around all of her limbs, the phantom pressure suffocating her and smothering her as it held her in place. 

Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried to flail against the bonds, her wrists staying lifelessly down by her sides despite all attempts to move them. The rage, the loss, the _pain_  of everything that had happened ever since she came home to their apartment and called out to Ian to break him from whatever drawings he had gotten lost in to find everything empty, and everything that was pushed back by her desire to go help him just bubbled over as she sobbed, suspended in emptiness of her own body as helpless as if Alcor had just lifted her up into the air or pulled her away into the mindscape.

In the flash of familiar blue fire Alcor gave off every time he teleported he was before her, a sad and regretful, but confident expression on his face as he stroked her face just as he had so many times when she was in middle school. Just like the parent/older brother figure he was caring for a younger child.  ** _“It’s for your own good.”_**

For the how ever many-ith time that afternoon Mira felt something snap inside her (how was she not completely broken by this point… but then again she felt like she was) as she suddenly whipped her head, the only part Alcor had left mobile, up to look directly into his face and snarled at him. “You _monster!_  I swear to G-” she scoffed as she cut herself off out of habit. It wasn’t like she wasn’t already literally a puppet to a demon anyway “I swear to you Alcor that I will find a way to save Ian. And if you keep trying to use my past lives against me then I swear I will find a way to get my soul back. Is this what Mabel would’ve wanted you to do when she entrusted her soul to you or did you lie to her too?”

Alcor physically recoiled at the statement, turning away and burying his face in his hands and mumbling something she couldn’t be bothered to make out as the magic binding Mira dropped. The woman wasted no time in jumping up, turning to find the hidden compartment in the one of the kitchen drawers and pulling out the ceremonial knife kept within. It was the blade she used when summoning Alcor for big things or doing other particularly complicated rituals and it held as much magic (if not more) than the baseball bat Alcor had made for her outings as Mizar.

Speaking of the demon, he had turned to her by the time she was making her way to the door for a final time, emotions that in any other situation would’ve made Mizar drop everything to comfort him flying across his face.

**_“How do you k̴̹̥͎̦̫͉͔n͈o̳͓͡w̧ ͇͙͓̳̺̙ạ̙b̫̜o͙̻̞̘ͅͅu̪͖͓̙͚t̠̰̻̦̮͢ ͡M̗͖̭̱͝a͍͈̠̰̰b̢̳e̜͔̫̖͕͙l̺̤͎̟͚̲̮?̴̳͖ ”_ **

“Mabel? She’s the only one you ever mention. She had to be the first. Unless you really did care about every other Mizar but I’m just some puppet whose name you can’t even remember.”

His mouth opened as if he was trying to find the words to say, but whether they were apologies or threats Mira didn’t care to hear them at this point.She was just so, so sick and tired of everything having to do with Alcor.

She sent him a glare telling him to shut up, but he either didn’t see it or he was suddenly reminded of who was the immortal all-powerful demon in this relationship, because he plowed on anyway,  _ **“It’ll k̠̜͖͎̦̳̮̤̞ͧ̍̂ͨ͠ī̸͉̠̥̘͔̳ͩ̀ͪ̒ͦl̿͑͞͏̩̠̟͙͓̭͓̝̖l̴̴̝̥͉̮̮̙͇͙ͬͨ you.”**_

Mira couldn’t tell whether he was referring to trying to get her soul back from him or trying to rescue Ian, but at this point it really didn’t matter.

“I don’t care. I have some spells I’ve learned over the years that might help but… I _love_ him. And if you don’t get that, actually whether or not you think you understand, I want you to leave me alone for a while. Maybe forever. Because I _need to do this_.”

And it was just a few moments before the door was shut, the quiet thud it made way too quiet to be called a slam no matter how much the explosive sound would’ve relieve both parties’ tempers right now. 

Mira tried not to think about leaving Alcor behind, staring at the doorway where she once stood looking lost and smaller than she had ever seen him. It was like he was back to the time when she was in middle school and he took on the appearance of a twelve year old to match her but she had somehow stayed an adult. No matter how much she wanted to go back inside and fix what was broken between her and Alcor, whether that involved apologies or more unproductive screaming, Ian was in more trouble and he had to come first. Gripping the knife in her fist only served as an all-too-painful reminder that her relationship with Alcor was strong as it stood, too strong for comfort.

She wasn’t lying when she said she would try to break her soul free if he interfered. Shivering with the phantom tension of the cords wrapping around her Mira wondered if she should just do it now, before Alcor could regain his senses and freeze her in a state where she couldn’t save Ian or break free.

But Ian would surely die if she got herself killed before attempting to rescue him. Yet, a small voice sounding just like him in the back of her head laughed, ‘did the timing or order of either of their deaths matter if they were so insignificant to begin with?’

* * *

Alcor was frozen as he watched the doorway from Mira left, the apartment that had practically been his second home- had been Miz- _Mira’s_  home for the past few months, was echoingly similar to the Mindscape as he hovered for an indeterminate amount of time, helplessly watching the affairs of the real world without being able to save those who matter.

He tried to push aside the inhuman part of his mind that whispered that it’d be easy, _so simple_  to burst through to wherever Mira had gotten to now and stop her in her tracks. He could even bring her back and play with that puppet theater until she got over the man who nearly got her killed, send her out with Sun-Mi and good friends who wouldn’t nearly get her killed, wouldn’t _betray her agai͢n̷,_  rather than sit back and watch as Mizar got hurt. He wasn’t powerless anymore, he had the duty to keep her safe- _no_ , he had a duty to let her make her own decisions, and he would respect that.

That voice didn’t seem to care as he shoved it down, and he could hear Bill’s taunts as it laughed over how once again Pine Tree was too stupid to put the pieces together and stop his plan.

Shaking his head, Alcor was disappointed to find that the only thought that took its place was the ironic echo of one of the few civil conversations he had with Ian. Mira was choosing him. But in a sick sense their joke was the one that was right: she was throwing herself away for neither of them, given how likely it was that either man would get to see the woman they cared for again.

* * *

 

 

> _In a garden in a hand_   
>  _Lies the key to shadowland_   
>  _You’re far from feeling strong_   
>  _The worst begins_
> 
> _In the sediments of life_   
>  _In the comfort of a knife_   
>  _You hold your breath_   
>  _And pray to God it won’t be long_
> 
> _And you wonder where the rainbow ends_   
>  _With its autumn setting sun_
> 
> _There’s a way from it all_   
>  _Though the chances are small_   
>  _We’ll come back again_   
>  _Won’t you think it over_   
>  _Life is a pendulous fall_   
>  _But maybe worth the pain_   
>  _And soon enough we’ll go_   
>  _Where nobody can touch us_
> 
> -The Pendulous Fall by Kamelot


End file.
